Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "OraOLEDB.Oracl

763982

I have created a linked server in a SQL Server 2005 connecting to either an Oracle Database and a SQL Server 6.5 database and getting the following error for both links when trying to query using provider OraOLEDB.Oracle, please help.

OLE DB provider "OraOLEDB.Oracle" for linked server "finprod3" returned message "ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified".
Msg 7303, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "OraOLEDB.Oracle" for linked server "finprod3".

gdarling - oracle

What version of Oracle client software are you using? 32 bit or 64 bit? Is the OS 32 bit or 64 bit?

12154 generally means the client can't figure out what TNSNames.ora entry you're referring to, which is the part you passed as "data source" in the oledb connection. Did you configure the client? Does SQLPlus connect without issue?

There's also a known issue where running 32 bit client software on a 64 bit OS can result in that error in some versions, due to parenthesis in the path of the executable - 32 bit apps go in Program Files (x86) on a 64 bit OS. Applying the latest patch level to the client software will resolve that issue.

Greg